StarCraft II, Diablo III Getting Pseudo-LAN

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Saturday Shacknews reported that Blizzard is currently working on a pseudo-LAN application that will be implemented into the revamped Battle.net service.

According to Blizzard's Greg Canessa, the support is planned for StarCraft II when launched next year; Jay Wilson also said in a separate report that Diablo III will provide the same support.

However, fans shouldn't expect the cherished offline LAN support of days long gone... at least for now "We are working on solutions with regard to things we can do to maintain connectivity to Battle.net in some way, but also provide a great quality connection between players," said Canessa. To clarify, Shack suggested a scenario where the game would only check in with Battle.net to authenticate the game before reverting to typical LAN behavior.

"Something like that," he replied. "Maintaining a connection with Battle.net, I don't know if it's once or periodically, but then also having a peer-to-peer connection between players to facilitate a very low-ping, high-bandwidth connection... those are the things that we're working on."

Based on the information, it may be that StarCraft II (and Diablo III) will feature some kind of offline LAN support, only requiring an online connection to authenticate the game. That's certainly positive news for fans upset over the whole LAN connection issue.

Kevin Parrish
97 Comments Comment from the forums
  • IronRyan21
    At least Blizard is noticing the fan outcry. They still need to do better than this. If im gonna actually pay for these games, give me real offline LAN play. Please?
    Reply
  • rigaudio
    "Hey Grandpa, tell us again about the olden days when you could connect your computers directly together."
    Reply
  • tektek2000
    Did i just hear a thundress roar... i guess a few koreans (in the millions)just jumped from the small hope of LAN tournament festivals will still go on! I'm a huge SC fan.. but the lack of local LAN.. is just damn confusing.. ur game set the standard for local lan fun..and in a way international tournaments and pro gamers.. that kept the game alive for over 10 years.. and created a huge loyal fan base.. so u say thank you.. by.. killing LAN? Did G. Bush become president of blizzard or something.. this sounds like BIN LADEN in cahoots with Saddam to attack american....WTF?!?!?!?
    Reply
  • hellodemon
    Isn't this a waste of internet resources?
    Smarten up, Blizzard!
    Reply
  • geminireaper
    they are smartenging up hellodemon. This gives you the Lan support that everyone whined about but keeps people from pirating the game...oh wait. Most of the people complaining they wanted lan suport were the pirates that werent actually gonna buy the game just pirate it and plan Lan "offline" mode like they did with starcraft and diablo/diablo 2. So I support this if and only if they dont force me to buy all 3 campaigns to play lan mode which would cost me 150 bucks like the online play will.
    Reply
  • barmaley
    Finally, it unfolds. As many people guessed before, absence of LAN support is primarily targeted at combating piracy, not viruses. They don't want one person buy the game, bring it to a LAN party and have 10 other guys be able to play the same disc. They want everyone to get their own. Which makes sense, because I'm greedy also and would most definitely want the same thing if I was Blizzard. Still sucks though that now I have to have an Internet connection to play LAN games. What if my Internet is out? Or what if the location that we are at does not have Internet at all? On the other hand, it is not that bad. I can guarantee you that 2 months will not go by after the game is released before some dude hacks starcraft2.exe and cuts out that "authenticity verification" BS and we'll have the true LAN. LOL !
    Reply
  • matt87_50
    thats great blizzard... and obvious... please tell me tho blizzard, whats the point of having low ping high bandwidth if I can't start the F$%^ING game in the first place cause I don't have net access?

    "only requiring an online connection to authenticate the game. That's certainly positive news for fans upset over the whole LAN connection issue."
    no, it isn't.

    why do they keep beating round the bush? just come out and say it: starcraft 2 is utilizing a monumentally gay form of DRM that requires an internet connection to play. thats all it is, DRM.
    Reply
  • Raidur
    Actually. If you ask me this was their plan all along and they are just making it look like it's a new idea made from everyone's complaining so we'll feel better.

    They had NO CHOICE to do this from the very beginning because of Pros/tourneys that NEED the low latency to perform, and this is exactly how I thought they'd do it.

    I think this was their plan all along. Drop a bomb and save the day with this 'kind of... lan' that they already had planned up. This will help people on dialup have LANs but you are still forgetting the LANs that have NO INTERNET. LAN implemented into Battle.net is NOT what we WANT. (at least not what 'I' want =P)
    Reply
  • matt87_50
    geminireaperthey are smartenging up hellodemon. This gives you the Lan support that everyone whined about but keeps people from pirating the game...oh wait. Most of the people complaining they wanted lan suport were the pirates that werent actually gonna buy the game just pirate it and plan Lan "offline" mode like they did with starcraft and diablo/diablo 2. So I support this if and only if they dont force me to buy all 3 campaigns to play lan mode which would cost me 150 bucks like the online play will.
    idiot, what makes you think that when the pirates go to download it it wont already be nice and cracked for them to do offline LAN? all your basically supporting is a retarded form of DRM that adds a massive prerequisite to the game for no other reason than they THINK it will stop piracy!
    Reply
  • Ramar
    Not good enough, at all. My biggest arguments for this aren't about lag, seeing as most people that have a connection at all have a decent connection. I would say at least 5% of PC gamers simply don't have internet at ALL, and quite often LAN's are held where there is no internet, or at least where setting up the net connection would be a pain in the ass.

    Try again, Blizzard.
    Reply